Lyssa Kay Adams provides laughs and steamy romance in her second Bromance Book Club romance. In Undercover Bromance, the reader is welcomed back to a romance book club full of lovable male characters navigating an unfamiliar world of feelings and flowery language. The group is led by Braden Mack, a well-to-do nightclub entrepreneur who’s an expert in matters of the heart. In the previous book, Braden met the one woman resistant to his charms: Liv Papandreas. But Braden is up for the challenge in this amazing romance.
Liv is brash and at times rude, but she’s really just a big ol’ softy on the inside. The head patisserie at a high-end restaurant, Liv instantly disliked Braden. (He ate her Chinese leftovers without asking.) When they cross paths yet again in a hilarious and unfortunate misunderstanding involving a very expensive cupcake, any hope of love between the pair seems to be doomed. But in Adams’ sweet, effortlessly funny take on the enemies-to-lovers trope, Braden and Liv slowly find their way toward one another while working to take down Liv’s old boss, a sexual predator who’s bought the silence of his victims and blacklisted Liv in the culinary world. As the two begin to see through the walls they’ve both put up, they eventually realize they suit each other in more ways than one. Braden is particularly endearing—soft and emotionally guarded under his playboy demeanor.
Even given its serious subject matter, Undercover Bromance is irrepressibly funny, in particular when Adams cheekily breaks the fourth wall. Each character in this large cast—from Liv’s responsible older sister, Thea, to a mysterious hacker and a man almost exclusively referred to as “The Russian”—is crafted with loving care and given time to shine.
Blending comedy, romance and social commentary, Undercover Bromance is an adorable, ambitious success for a rising star in the genre.
